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During the Destruction of Halvo Bay, General Karn's mount, the Shibboleth, had a Digger Launcher attached to its prosthetic leg. The creature used it when it battled the members of Kilo Squad, however the Gears were able to destroy the leg, along with the launcher.

During the Lambent Pandemic, the Digger Launcher originally used by Karn was brought back by the Savage Locust and was used by Savage Boomers for close range and long range combat. The digger creature is housed in a single round magazine, like the Boomshot.[4]

The Digger Launcher fires a "small, indigenous creature called a Digger", attached to an explosive device that digs underneath and through the ground, making a loud, munching sound as it approaches its target in addition to kicking up dirt and pathing tiles along its path, making its approach obvious to enemies. The Digger then pops out of the ground and stays in the air for a split second where the trajectory was set and explodes, releasing shrapnel in addition to the explosive blast. The heads of nearby enemies burst open into a flush of blood and brains. The effect when the Digger is fired directly at an opponent is incredibly effective, instantly killing anything digging straight through it, making munching noises and causing blood to shoot out of the target's chest and back as it goes, before finally exploding and completely destroying the target's whole upper body, as seen in a multiplayer beta. It can kill a Savage Grenadier in a single blast, presumably making its power equal or greater than that of a Bolo Grenade. It has a targeting system more like a grenade than a standard weapon, and uses a curved line that shows the trajectory of the digger to aim including a standard reticule. It is mostly effective due to its ability to render cover useless and take out entrenched foes.

Similar to the Boomshot, if used too close it can kill you and your opponent. It will jump out and detonate if it has reached the end of its path, or if an enemy is in the path's course.

The Digger Launcher can actually be more effective when blind-fired in an enemy's general direction, as the projectile will seek out the nearest opponent, rather than travelling to where the crosshairs were.

The Digger Launcher's execution consists of hitting the downed enemy over with the weapon, then kicking him/her in the head, bursting it.

The original concept art for the weapon showed that originally the barrel of the gun was much longer and that it fired a different type of ammunition instead of the Digger which was added later.

It was also originally labelled as Locust Launcher.

At Comic-Con 2010, someone asked about where the inspiration for the Digger Launcher came from. Cliff revealed that it took a lot of inspiration, and Rod explained that it started as a grenade that the player slammed into the ground. However, the team decided that they didn't want any more grenades in the game, so it evolved from there. Cliff additionally commented, "If you listen closely, as the Digger is heading for you, you can hear it say "Nom nom nom nom nom."[5]